The Trickery of Life
by Madder88
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke are childhood friends. After their reunion ten years later, Sakura witnesses a murder and her life becomes threatened. As they try to protect her and find the murder, Naruto and Sasuke face a dilemma of friendship and love.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 ---- Special Meetings

Uzumaki Naruto was playing soccer with his classmates on the school ground. He was an energetic and playful boy. He had no tolerance for injustice, understandably because of his father, who was the head of the Konoha Police.

"Hey! Hey! Pass!" he shouted. One of his classmates passed the ball to him and he kicked it into the goal. "Yeah!" he jumped in excitement.

Uchiha Sasuke was watching the scene as he walked down the hallway with a book in his right arm. Suddenly, he was tripped by another student.

"You better watch where you're going," the boy said and laughed.

Sasuke fixed his glasses and stood up. He glared at the boy for a second and walked away.

Haruno Sakura was looking over the school ground from the balcony of her classroom. Her pink, silky hair swayed in the air elegantly as the fresh breeze swept across the balcony. She was a kind-hearted and caring girl.

"Sakura-chan, the class is starting soon," one of her classmates said to her.

"Ok. Let's go in," she answered and smiled.

----

The school year had just started and Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were in 4th grade.

"Watch out, Naruto!" someone shouted. Naruto slightly turned his head towards the voice and a soccer ball was flying through the air in his direction. He dodged it with his soccer reflex. Naruto looked back in the direction of the voice and his classmates were running towards him. He noticed that people were all looking at him. Then realized that their eyes were looking beyond him. Behind him. He turned around immediately and there was a girl on the ground. The ball had nailed her in the head.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted and ran to her. The girl got up and started dusting her outfit. "Are you all right? I'm sorry! Do you need to go to the infirmary?" Naruto asked the girl.

"No. I'm fine. Thanks," the girl replied.

Naruto offered her his hand. She took it and stood up.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. What is your name?"  
"My name is Haruno Sakura," the girl answered.

This was their meeting.

Sakura walked away and Naruto watched her back.

"Let's get back inside," Naruto said. Naruto and his classmates started heading back to their classroom.

The chime rang. It was time to go back to the classroom. Sasuke hurried to the building.

THUD!

He fell. He looked up and there were three boys snickering at him. "What are you looking at?" One of them said. One of them had put his foot in Sasuke's way.

"Here, give me those glasses," another one took them away.

"Give them back!" Sasuke stood up to retrieve his glasses.

"Watch it, nerd!" the last one kicked him down.

Sasuke stood up again. "I need my glasses. Give them back," he said. The three looked at each other and one of them said, "Here." Sasuke approached him to receive them. One of them tripped him again. Sasuke, furious by now, pushed the boy over but was pushed down by the other two. They laughed at him and went away. Sasuke bit his lip.

At that moment, Sasuke saw a hand in front of his face. He looked up and there was a girl

"Are you OK?" the girl asked.

"Uh…Yeah, I'm fine," Sasuke said and stood up. He started walking away.

"Um, your book," the girl said as she picked up his book from the ground. "UCHIHA SASUKE," she read it as she dusted the book with her hand. "Sasuke-kun! Your book!" she said with louder voice.

Sasuke turned around. The girl was holding his book in front of her. Sasuke came back swiftly and received it from her. She smiled.

"Thanks..," Sasuke said as if whispering. Seeing the girl's eyes looking back at him, he said, "You're kind. Everyone makes fun of me because I'm a---"

"Nerd? That just means that you are a hardworking person, right?"

Sasuke, surprised, did not have a word to say.

"I'm sure you are a special one," the girl said and smiled. "Nice to meet you Mr. Nerd. I'm Haruno Sakura."

Sasuke was overwhelmed with ecstasy, which was not a usual feeling for him. They shook hands and went back to their own classrooms.

Naruto was running up the hallway with his notebook. He had forgotten to turn in the late assignment during the recess.

Bam! Naruto ran into someone. They both fell.

"Sorry, are you ok?" Naruto immediately got up and asked the boy who was down on the floor.

"Yeah."

"I was running because I forgot to turn in my late homework," Naruto said scratching his head.

The boy looked at the notebook, which had fallen open on the floor.

"Um. You've got number 5 and 7 wrong. And…10 and 16," the boy said.

"What!" Naruto exclaimed.

"The area of a circle is pi x radius x radius. And the formula for the circumference is pi x diameter. You've gotten them switched."

"Ahhhh! There's no time to correct them!" Naruto said.

The boy watched Naruto panic and laughed a little. "Here," he offered his pencil to Naruto.

"Ahhhh! What should I---Oh. OH! Thanks, buddy! You're my lifesaver!" Naruto received the pencil and started correcting his problems, which made the page a mess. "Thanks. Thanks a lot," Naruto said as he stood up ready to leave. "Oh. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, by the way. What's your name?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," the boy replied.

"All right, Sasuke. Thanks, again. I might run into you sometime!" Naruto ran off.

Sasuke stood up and hurried to his classroom.

During the afternoon recess, Sakura went outside and sat on a bench near the huge tree at the edge of the school ground.

Naruto came out to rest under the tree. He sat down and leaned against the firm trunk.

Sasuke grabbed his book and headed to his usual reading place. He saw a perfect spot under his favorite tree and sat down. The green leaves on the branches were like one large umbrella. The sunlight entered through the small holes among the leaves.

Sakura sighed.

Naruto sighed.

Sasuke sighed.

Sakura looked up and saw Naruto and Sasuke. "Naruto-kun. And…Sasuke-kun."

The two looked up. Naruto seeing Sakura, looked over to the other side of the tree and saw Sasuke doing the same.

"Do you two know each other?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Naruto said.

"I helped him with my homework," Sasuke said.

"Oh that is nice of you. See you're a great help," Sakura smiled. Sasuke smiled slightly.

"How do you two know each other?" Sasuke asked.

"…The soccer ball hit her."

Sasuke laughed.

"How do _you_ two know each other?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke looked up.

"Sasuke-kun dropped his book, so I gave it to him," Sakura said. Sasuke looked at her. "Isn't that right?" she said.

"…Yeah," he answered.

"Well…This is some group. Isn't it?" Naruto said excitedly as he looked at the two. Sakura and Sasuke nodded and laughed.

**Author Note**: This is the beginning of my new story. It's quite different from my last story and it will be more OOC. I had this story in my mind for a while, so I hope you enjoy reading it  Please let me know how you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ---- Separation and…

"Do you two come here often?" Sakura asked.

"It's my favorite reading place," Sasuke said holding his book vertically on his lap.

"I just came here to rest," Naruto said. "By the way, what are you reading?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"This? It's a book about technology," Sasuke answered.

"Technology? Like computers?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. Things like that. There's a lot more to it," Sasuke said.

"So, you want to be a computer technician or something?" Naruto added.

"No. I don't want to be a computer technician!" Sasuke got angry. Sakura and Naruto looked at each other.

"Sorry. My dad hacks into people's computers all the time," Sasuke said calmly. "So, I'll master technology and do things a lot greater than hacking."

"Good spirit, Sasuke! Give me high five!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "My dad is a police officer. Actually…He's the head of Konoha Police, Naruto said.

"Wow! That's really cool!" Sakura said fascinatedly.

"Are you going to be a police officer, too?" Sasuke asked.

"Heck no! I want to be a soccer player," Naruto said. "The world's best."

"I don't know what I want to be yet," Sakura said.

"Well, that's good, too. You can decided whenever you want to," Naruto said. "Right, Sasuke?"

"Exactly," Sasuke agreed.

-----

The three came to the tree everyday during recess and played together. They talked about each other and hung out outside school. As time passed by, strong bonds were formed among the three and they enjoyed each other's company.

The presence of Sakura was special in the group. She was like the mediator and was always at the neutral position. Naruto's intensity and Sasuke's composition melted harmoniously with Sakura's legerity.

-----

"Heh heh, I look good in this don't I?" Naruto said proudly as he put his hands on his waist showing off his blue yukata. It was the day of Konoha Summer festival.

"Yes, you do, Naruto-kun," Saakura said.

"Sakura-chan, you look pretty," Saasuke said.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun. I like your yukata, too," Sakura said happily.

"Duh, Sasuke! It's so obvious Sakura's the prettiest girl around here. You don't even have to say," Naruto scoffed.

"She's the prettiest girl in the world, Naruto," Sasuke corrected Naruto.

Sakura laughed. She felt comfortable being with Naruto and Sasuke. Their quarrel was only an entertainment to her. The stars were shining and her chest was filled with anticipation for the bright future.

-----

However, at the end of the year, Sakura found out that her father was to be transferred to another branch of his office, which was in another city far away.

Sakura went to school and told Naruto and Sasuke that she had to move away. Naruto and Sasuke kept silent.

"Sakura…Are you…telling the truth?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," she said.

"My dad was promoted to work in the National Police Office," Naruto said.

Sakura looked at him surprised. She looked at Sasuke.

"I'm not going anywhere..," he said.

Sakura kept silent for a while and they laughed.

"We are so random," she said. "We met randomly and we are separating randomly."

Naruto and Sasuke also laughed. For some reason, they did not feel sad. All of them secretly had a feeling that they were going to meet again, randomly, in the future.

----

Eight years passed. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were eighteen years old. They had just started college.

Sakura was walking back to her apartment from school. Her hair was silky and sleek as always. She was much taller than eight years ago. Her features looked mature. Her emerald eyes looked at the open sky straightly.

Bump.

Someone had bumped into her.

"I'm sorry," Sakura apologized.

There was a man standing in front of her. He looked at her up and down and smiled. "It's ok. I forgive you because you're cute." Sakura was disgusted by his smiled and started to walk away. "Oh come on. Hang out with me, will ya?" he followed her and grabbed her hand. Sakura yelled, "Don't touch me!"

At that moment, a blonde boy came into the scene.

"Will you get off her, please?" he said with a straight face. "I'll report to the police if you don't."

The man looked annoyed but reluctantly let go of Sakura and walked away mumbling. Sakura looked at the boy who saved her.

"Thank you," she said. She was still frightened by what had happened.

"No problem. You better watch out for those guys because people like you tend to have these kind of troubles," the boy said and smiled.

Sakura was thinking that he looked like Naruto. However, he was a lot taller than Naruto that she remembered and his clothes reminded her more of Sasuke. He looked decent compared to her image of Naruto who always played soccer and did not study.

"I want to be a soccer player. The world's best," Sakura remembered Naruto's line. She imagined Naruto's face over the boy's face.

"Are you ok? If you'd like, I can walk you home," the boy offered.

"This totally is not Naruto." Sakura was convinced. "No, thank you. I'm fine," she refused politely.

"When someone like that approaches you again, use this," the boy handed her a protection alarm key chain. He smiled and walked away. Sakura put the key chain in her pocket and walked back to her apartment.

The boy, indeed, was Naruto. His childhood memories with Sasuke and Sakura had been vivid in his mind for all the years after he left Konoha. The year he spent with them was incomparably special. It was as if Sakura had jumped out of the picture frame. He remembered the girl's emerald eyes.

"Maybe that really was Sakura…" He turned around.

Sasuke was walking down the street. It had just started raining. He took out his compact umbrella from his backpack. He started walking with the umbrella. The rain was getting harder.

"A downpour, huh," he muttered as he looked up at the dark sky. Just at that moment, he spotted a girl coming down the road bridge. She was running and had no umbrella. It was Sakura. At least, that was Sasuke's first thought.

As she passed by, she looked at him for an instant. That one second felt like three seconds. Sasuke smiled. The girl walked on fast. Sasuke watched her run away into the white rain. Then, he noticed that the girl had dropped her school ID. He quickly picked it up and looked at it. He looked up at the girl and started running after her.

The card read "Haruno Sakura".

Sakura was running. Her hair was drenched.

"I have to get back. Such a luck!" She thought as she ran.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her wrist and said, "Sakura-chan." She turned around and saw a handsome boy standing there. She was unconsciously flung his hand off her wrist.

"When someone like that approaches you again, use this." The blond boy's line came back to her head. She took out the alarm key chain and tried to pull the plug.

The boy immediately cast his hand on her hand to stop what she was about to do. He quietly showed her school ID. She looked up at him and said, "Oh. I'm so sorry. Thank you," she apologized.

"It's all right," he said.

Sakura was wondering why the boy was standing there. He was smiling. Sakura remembered him calling him "Sakura-chan." Sasuke's face came into her mind.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked.

He smiled happily and said, "Long time no see." He had gotten much taller and he was no longer wearing glasses. He was wearing casual clothes and looked more confident than he used to.

"Hey!" the blond boy from earlier came and took Sasuke down.

"Sasuke-kun. No! He's my friend!" Sakura shouted. The boy looked up. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura. Is it really you? Is it? I thought so!" the boy said excitely. "It's me, Naruto."

**Author Note**: Thanks for reading chapter 2! This is a significant chapter, as explained by the length of it. I hope you liked it and please let me know what you thought of it. I enjoy reading your comments 


	3. Chapter 3: Unexpected

Chapter 3 ---- Unexpected

"Naruto-kun. Naruto-kun, I was thinking that you might be Naruto-kun when I met you earlier!" Sakura said very excitedly.

Sasuke got up and said, "Hey, Naruto. Long time no see."

"Oh , Sasuke! Sorry about that. Haha. Long time no see," Naruto said and pulled Sasuke up. "Let's get out of this rain first."

"You can come to my place," Sasuke said squinting his eyes to keep the rain from getting into them.

Sakura and Naruto ran after Sasuke and came to his apartment. It was neatly organized inside. Sasuke invited them in and brought them some towels. After they dried themselves, they sat down around the small wooden table in from of the TV and started talking.

"I'm so surprised. You guys look really different," Sakura said looking at both of them.

"I know…I mean it's been eight years," Naruto said scratching his head.

"But when we are back together, it feels like it's only been a little while," Sasuke said.

"Naruto-kun, are you playing soccer?" Sakura asked.

"Ah no. I go to the police academy," he said. Sasuke and Sakura looked at him. He was wearing a collared shirt and a pair of trousers.

"I thought---" Sasuke said.

"I know, I said I didn't want to go into the police business, but I decided to because I like saving people and promoting justice," Naruto said triumphantly.

"I remember you were that kind of person," Sakura said.

"I see you're a college student," Naruto said.

"Law school," Sasuke added and looked at Sakura. Sakura smiled and nodded.

"How about you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"I go to a technology institute but I also work at a hardware shop. I can do work fine but I still need to have college education for my future," Sasuke answered.

"You were always like that, too. You guys haven't changed much after all. Just the looks. You both look handsome," Sakura said.

Naruto blushed and scratched his head. Sasuke also blushed and smiled. "You look nice, too," Sasuke said. "Of course, dummy!" Naruto hit Sasuke on the head. Sakura laughed.

After their reunion at Sasuke's apartment, Naruto and Sakura headed out.

"It stopped raining," Sakura said looking up at the sky. Naruto observed her face from the side. Her face looked serene and reserved.

"Sakura---"

"Naruto, you left your cell phone," Sasuke said looking out from his second floor window. Naruto looked up.

"Oh, yeah. I'm coming," he said. "I'll be back," he told Sakura and went into the building.

Sakura looked at the window. Sasuke was no longer there. She touched her hair and played with it a little.

Upsttairs, Naruto came to Sasuke's apartment. Sasuke was waiting at the door.

"Here," he handed the cell phone to Naruto.

"Thanks," Naruto said and looked at Sasuke.

There was an awkward moment of silence.

"Well, see you later," Naruto said.

"Yeah, nice seeing you again, Naruto," Sasuke said.

Sakura, outside, was thinking about this incredible occurrence. Sasuke's appearance had changed greatly and it still surprised her. She had always admired his hardworking character. On the other hand, Naruto did not change as much in terms of appearance. They had matured in their own way. Sakura thought of the past.

Flashback---

"Heh-Heh! It's the biggest beetle I've ever caught!" Naruto said showing off an insect.

"That's not a beetle, Naruto. It's an antlion," Sasuke said as he lifted his eyes off the technology book.

Sakura laughed at the scene.

---

"Sakura-chan, why are you crying?" Sasuke asked Sakura.

"My tamagotchi (virtual pet on an egg shaped computer) is dying," Sakura managed to tell him.

"Here, let me see," Sasuke said. Sakura handed him the egg. Sasuke started fixing it. Sakura watched intently as he carefully handled it.

Beep---

"Here you go, it's working now," Sasuke gave it back to Sakura.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun! Thank you so much!" Sakura thanked him.

----

"Look!" Sakura shouted as she pointed at a box floating down the river with a puppy in it. Sasuke and Naruto looked down from the bridge.

"We have to do something!" Sakura panicked.

"I'll go get him," Naruto said decidedly. Sakura and Sasuke looked at him. Naruto ran to the side of the river and started swimming towards the box.

"Naruto-kun! Be careful!" Sakura shouted from the bridge.

"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted with her.

After five minutes, Naruto reached the shore.

"Phew. That was some exercise," he said. The puppy whined.

Sakura and Sasuke sighed.

End of the flash back---

"Sakura." Naruto came out of the building.

Sakura turned around and smiled.

"I'll walk you back. It's kind of dark," he said.

"Oh ok," Sakura said.

Naruto escorted her back to her apartment.

"Thanks, Naruto-kun. We should get together again soon."

"Of course. We'll call," he said.

The next day, Sakura was walking back to her apartment. It was close to five o'clock.

"Wow, it's already five. I was working on my power point for 2 hours," Sakura thought as she looked at her watch.

When she reached home, she thought about what happened yesterday.

"I can't believe I really met them," Sakura said and smiled almost doubting the truth.

Ring-ring-ring----

Her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Sakura. It's me. Naruto."

"Oh hi, Naruto-kun."

"Do you want to come over to Minami Café at 6:30? I asked Sasuke to come, too."

"Minami Café? Ok. That's exciting."

"I'll see you there!"

"Ok, bye."

Sakura looked at the clock. It was 5:30. She opened her laptop and started her Power Point program. Then, she realized that she had left the floppy disk at her college's computer lab. The presentation was coming up in two days. The café was only a block from her college. She decided to go get it.

She went into the computer lab and successfully got her floppy disk.

"Good, now I can just head to the café early," she put the disk in her pocket and walked out of the school. As she passed by a tavern, she thought she heard someone. She stopped. There was an alley building the tavern and another building. It was long and she could not see the end of it because it was dark.

"No!" A man shouted.

Sakura gasped.

"Something must be happening," she thought. She looked around but there weren't many people. She went into the alley and when she reached the middle of it, there was an open area. She stopped and hesitated to go on. She felt an unnatural atmosphere. She held Naruto's alarm key chain tightly and stepped forward. There, she saw a dead body lying in a pool of blood.

She gasped and activated the alarm unconsciously. Suddenly, she found a man looking at her from a distance away in the alley. He started running towards her. Sakura turned around and started running. As she came out of the alley, she bumped into someone.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" It was Naruto.

"I saw…I saw a dead body..," Sakura started crying. Naruto held her tightly in his arms. "Let's call the police."

Sasuke arrived at the café and saw Naruto and Sakura half a block away.

**Author** **Note**: That was chapter 3. I hope you liked it. Chapter 4 is coming up. Please let me know your thoughts on the chapter. I appreciate your comments and enjoy reading them!


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